Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures, Book 1

By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book in the instant New York Times best-selling gothic fantasy series; a modern paranormal romance set against the gothic backdrop of an isolated southern town.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met.

When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Kami Garcia (P)2009 Hachette

Not bad

Good book. Interesting narration. This is my first audio book in 100 that had music and sound effects. Groovy read

Outstanding performance!

Best narrating performance I have ever heard. Absolutely loved it. I found it was really interesting hearing a teenage supernatural love story through the eyes of the guy. I really felt like I was there, in the south, in a small town, surrounded by tradition and superstition. My only criticism is with Lena. Yes she is annoying because she is so dramatic! However, she is a 15 yr old girl so of course she is! My problem with her lies in her constant asking the same question every time Ethan makes a discovery, "WhAt aRe YoU TaLKinG AbOUT??" she always asks him with a damn attitude like he's the clueless one. Like girl, if it wasn't for him you would still be locked up in your room writing shitty poems.

OMG....

I loved the movie so much that I had to read the book. Of course the book is always better than the movie.... but who would of thought the movie that I love so much missed so much information that I feel like I was lied to. I could not stop listening to it, it just kept getting better and better. It took me about 5 days to get threw it and now I’m getting ready to jump in the 2nd book. I’m all in.....

Beautiful Creatures is a Beautiful Story

The sense of history and magic are wonderfully captured in this story and seeing it through the eyes of a male character was refreshing and beautiful done. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Good story to get lost in

If you could sum up Beautiful Creatures in three words, what would they be?

southern, romantic, magical

What other book might you compare Beautiful Creatures to and why?

smashing twilight, harry potter and gone with the wind together

What about Kevin T. Collins’s performance did you like?

Love his voice - he did an excellent job separating the characters

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

first love!

Any additional comments?

got lost in this series while driving to work in February - highly recommend!

Distracting performance

Where does Beautiful Creatures rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

While the story is well crafted, the audio performance leaves much to be desired. This is the first audio book that I've listened to that had added sound effects, which I found very distracting. One of my favorite parts of a good piece of fiction is being drawn in and allowing my own imagination to take over. Adding sound effects feels an awful lot like a vote of no confidence, either in the author's ability to tell the story or the reader's ability to grasp it.

Typical teeny bopper magic story.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Well one thing i have found with certain female authors is that they don't truly understand how a guy thinks. While listening to the story I kept saying,"That isn't what a sixteen year old guy is thinking about." It was because of this very thing that I didn't connect with the character. No normal sixteen year old guy would have acted as they portrayed the main character. Far too much emotion, or far too much like a women would act.

Would you be willing to try another book from Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl ? Why or why not?

Yes, but hopefully there would be a little less whining from the characters.

What about Kevin T. Collins’s performance did you like?

Kevin's performance was one of the highlights of the book. There were parts with the song and the girl singing that i wish they would have just had him read, instead of playing the song, since it was difficult to understand what she was saying in each rendition.

Did Beautiful Creatures inspire you to do anything?

uh no

Any additional comments?

It was typical of these teen magical sorts of books. Lots of guys thinking nothing like a guy would really think, and too much whining about emotions and so on. It wasn't as bad as Twilight in that respect, but still not something most guys would enjoy.

pretty good read

Love the book definitely different from the movie tho some good differences and some bad

Flows very nicely and keeps your interest

Where does Beautiful Creatures rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Beautiful Creatures is in the top 20 of audiobooks I have listened to. The plot flows very nicely and keeps your interest throughout the entire story.

What other book might you compare Beautiful Creatures to and why?

I would compare Beautiful Creatures to the Dresden series with the coming of age wizards in some of those books.

Have you listened to any of Kevin T. Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any other performances by Kevin T. Collins.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Normal is never ordinary when family ties split the lines between light and dark.

Any additional comments?

A very good audiobook. I would recommend this to other listeners.

A quick entertaining listen

Would you listen to Beautiful Creatures again? Why?

No. Already heard it. Simple-straight forward story. I don't think there would be much to gain.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Somewhat predictable. Leaves you hanging though.

Which character – as performed by Kevin T. Collins – was your favorite?

The greats... the reader did an amazing job giving each character a distinct voice and maintaining that voice throughout the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes